Surface Water
Surface Water
Streams, rivers, lakes and reservoirs - collectively referred to as surface water - are important natural resources for irrigation, public supply, wetlands and wildlife. Surface water is also measured as annual runoff, which is the amount of rain and snowmelt drainage left after the demands of nature, evaporation from land, and transpiration from vegetation have been supplied. It supplies most of our basic water needs.
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Coping with Drought in the Russian River Watershed
Drought in the Russian River region is keyed to the absence of large winter storms-the RR is winter rain-driven, with a few atmospheric river (AR) storms each year bringing 40-50% of the annual rainfall. Two multi-purpose reservoirs provide storage for warm-season uses, and there is little to no snow pack to extend the runoff season. The same ARs that provide beneficial water supply can also cause...
California Streamgage Information
To help emergency managers and others protect life and property due to floods and other water-related hazards, the USGS delivers a continuous source of streamflow information. The U.S. Geological Survey has been measuring streamflow in the U.S. for over 120 years. We operate more than 7,500 streamgages in the U.S. and nearly 500 in California that collect data to determine the amount of water...
Occurrence of Current-use Pesticides in Suisun Bay and Potential Effects on Phytoplankton
Suisun Bay is an area identified as critical habitat for the threatened Delta Smelt. Several important changes in the pelagic food web of this area have been documented over the last two decades indicating that food for Delta Smelt and other threatened fishes is in short.
Development of a spatially explicit ecosystem model to explore physiochemical drivers of step changes in POD species abundance and distribution in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Suisun Bay
Prior to 2000, the four most abundant resident pelagic fishes in the study area included two native species, delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus) a federal listed endangered species, and longfin smelt (Spirinchus thaleicthys) a state listed endangered species, and two introduced species, threadfin shad (Dorosoma petenense) and age-0 striped bass (Morone saxatilis).
Evaluation of Exposure and Vulnerability of Selected Inland National Wildlife Refuges in the Pacific Southwest to Water Resources Constraints in the Face of Climate Change using Downscaled Climate Change Modeling
As competition for water is growing, a major challenge is to ensure that sufficient quantities of good quality water are available for fish, wildlife, and plants. Competition for a limited supply of water with adequate water quality to support National Wildlife Refuges are a dominant threat for many National Wildlife Refuges across the U.S. and is only heightened during times of drought and in the...
Quantification of Mercury Flux in Eroding Mining Debris, Yuba River Watershed, California
At two priority locations on BLM-administered land in the Yuba River watershed, the USGS has documented relatively rapid erosion of river bank material that consists of mercury (Hg)-laden sediment with a significant component of mining debris.
Determining Water Availability in the Russian River Watershed
The Russian River Watershed covers 1,500 square miles of urban, agricultural and forested lands in northern Sonoma County and southern Mendocino County, California. Communities in the Russian River Watershed (RRW) depend on a combination of Russian River water and groundwater to meet their water-supply demands. Water is used primarily for agricultural irrigation, municipal and private wells supply...
Mapping Sturgeon Spawning Habitat in the Lower San Joaquin River
The spawning of adult white sturgeon ( Acipenser transmontanus ) in the lower San Joaquin River was documented recently by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) (Gruber and others, 2012; Jackson and Eenennaam, 2013). Streamflow on the San Joaquin River has been modified by State and Federal water project operations, and there are a variety of questions regarding the effects on fish...
Pesticide Studies in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay Estuary
The objectives of this specific study are to characterize the mixtures of current-use pesticides and pesticide degradates entering the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta from its two main river sources over a period of 12 consecutive months.
Understanding Juvenile Salmon Entrainment and Survival in the South Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta Through the Use of Acoustic Telemetry and Hydrodynamic Measurements
This study will use the release-recapture information derived from the 2012 receiver array to populate a mark-recapture model based on a Cormack-Jolly-Seber model in combination with a route-specific survival model of Skalski et al. (2002) to derive maximum likelihood estimates and standard errors of reach specific survival and entrainment rates at important junctions, similar to what was used in...
Delta sediment measurements to support numerical modeling of turbidity
The purpose of the proposed work is to collect data that will support the development, calibration, and validation of numerical models of sediment transport and turbidity in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Geomorphic Assessment and Restoration Alternatives Development for the Merced River in East Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park
The National Park Service (NPS) and USGS jointly will investigate impacts to the Merced River due to infrastructure and historic channel widening in east Yosemite Valley with a goal of constructing river management alternatives. Past management actions, such as gravel mining, channel riprap, and the construction of bridges that do not accommodate flood flows, have had long-lasting impacts to the...